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<pre>Dear All,

I have a couple of questions that somebody may be able to help me with:

1. Ants are a constant problem for me as they swarm all over the trees and
are implicated in the spreading of black scale and sooty mould. I have tried
using the approved Chlorpyraphos based insecticides but with little results.
I have tried erecting sticky any trap barriers, but the ants soon find a way
past these. I have tried baiting the ant nests with a mixture of polenta and
Fipronil to try to get the worker ants to take the poison down to the queen,
but none of these techniques seems to be very effective.
Other than pouring diesel down the ants nests and dropping a match on it
(not all that sensible in the heat of an Australian summer!), does anybody
have any suggestions of how to discourage ants?

2. I seem to have an infestation of root knot nematodes in one grove.
Samples of leaf, branch, soil and root were sent off to the NSW DPI and they
have confirmed the presence of these nematodes on the roots. They are fairly
common in the area and tend to infect the local vineyards. I spoke to the
viticulturalists and their simple solution was to pull all the vines out and
replace them with resistant rootstock. This is obviously not a viable
solution in an established olive grove, so we have settled on a technique
known as bio-fumigation whereby a Brassica crop is grown in the interrow
area, and when this crop is harvested it will give off a natural chemical
that will kill the nematodes (or at least severely restrict the damage).
Has anybody come across damage caused by root knot nematodes, and if so what
did you do?
Has anybody tried this form of organic control system (bio-fumigation) and
what sort of Brassica crop is best?

Regards, and best wishes for the New Year,

Mike Wilson
Hunter Valley, NSW.
</pre>
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<pre>G'day Mike
Yes I have used bio fumigation in Viticulture but more uncommonly in
olives.
Nemeatodes are sensitive to bi products found in Brassica crops and we
used to supply one called NEMFIX.
This was a blend of brassicas mainly is the mustard/conola family which
was then slashed and harrowed once mature.
It is definitely not a fast method but viable. Chemicals such as
nemacur was extremely expensive and in Olives, bluntly not viable.
The cost far outweighs the value of the plants. Sandy soils tended to
be more prone to nematod damage as well. Improving soil texture is also
sometimes beneficial.

Ants and scale have a reasonabley symbiotic relationship. However with
no scale there is very rarely ants. Controlling scale will nearly
always reduce the ant population.
Some types f ants will harvest scale and they will be moved around the
grove. Whether this is a deliberate ploy of the ants or just a another
bi-product is not known but in this situation, controlling the ants will
be important. Knowing whether it is the case or not will be very
difficult to determine. I personally have an annual 2 spray program to
control scale and have a very minimal ant problem as a result.

I hope I have helped.

cheers


Russell March B.Ag.Sc.

Technical Sales Advisor

Pellenc Australia

Telephone: 61 8333 1177

Fax: 61 8333 1166

Mobile: 0418 825 812



________________________________

From: OliveOil@yahoogroups.com [mailto:OliveOil@yahoogroups.com] On
Behalf Of Mike Wilson
Sent: Friday, 30 December 2005 3:20 PM
To: Olives Groups
Subject: [OliveOil] Ants & Nematodes


Dear All,

I have a couple of questions that somebody may be able to help me with:

1. Ants are a constant problem for me as they swarm all over the trees
and
are implicated in the spreading of black scale and sooty mould. I have
tried
using the approved Chlorpyraphos based insecticides but with little
results.
I have tried erecting sticky any trap barriers, but the ants soon find a
way
past these. I have tried baiting the ant nests with a mixture of polenta
and
Fipronil to try to get the worker ants to take the poison down to the
queen,
but none of these techniques seems to be very effective.
Other than pouring diesel down the ants nests and dropping a match on it
(not all that sensible in the heat of an Australian summer!), does
anybody
have any suggestions of how to discourage ants?

2. I seem to have an infestation of root knot nematodes in one grove.
Samples of leaf, branch, soil and root were sent off to the NSW DPI and
they
have confirmed the presence of these nematodes on the roots. They are
fairly
common in the area and tend to infect the local vineyards. I spoke to
the
viticulturalists and their simple solution was to pull all the vines out
and
replace them with resistant rootstock. This is obviously not a viable
solution in an established olive grove, so we have settled on a
technique
known as bio-fumigation whereby a Brassica crop is grown in the interrow
area, and when this crop is harvested it will give off a natural
chemical
that will kill the nematodes (or at least severely restrict the damage).
Has anybody come across damage caused by root knot nematodes, and if so
what
did you do?
Has anybody tried this form of organic control system (bio-fumigation)
and
what sort of Brassica crop is best?

Regards, and best wishes for the New Year,

Mike Wilson
Hunter Valley, NSW.






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